Page 54 of Wedded to the Ruthless Duke

He seemed to sense it, for he bent down over her.

“Mine, Grace,” he said possessively in her ear then clamped down with his lips on her neck again in another one of those open-mouthed kisses.

She lost all semblance of being in control then. She felt her world slide sideways as he rocked into her and drove into an oblivion of pleasure. She was fairly certain she cried out his name, multiple times, as her body tightened around him. There were stars at one point, and she had no idea what she did with her hands, whether she gripped onto his arms or the bed, for they were unable to stay in one place.

“Ah,” his own moans started to change.

She was still coming down from her high, still trying to bear with the pleasure when she felt his hands drive more firmly down into the bed on either side of her head. He rocked into her fast, clearly hitting new realms of thrills himself.

He didn’t moan her name, but the sounds were overwhelming. He became more vocal, moaning as he had not done when they had first begun this dance together.

Then he stilled, his firm rocks coming to a halt as he bent down over her.

Grace couldn’t help staring down at their connection, thinking of what they shared, still basking in the warmth of him being inside of her.

“You’re not going anywhere tonight,” he said in a sudden husky voice, kissing her deeply again.

Far from pulling out at her once, as she feared he might now that the deed had been done, he tangled their limbs together. A rush of emotion shot through Grace as she wrapped her arms around Philip, holding him tight. Her hands toyed with his hair — the one part of him that was always messy. She made it even worse until it was a tangled mess.

When they pulled back from their kiss, his seductive smile was enough to make her long to do everything they had just done again.

“Not a bad first night as husband and wife, eh?” he whispered.

She laughed, shocked at the sudden warmth and happiness she felt. When that laughter rumbled through their connection, his smile grew broader, and he bent down to kiss her again.

CHAPTER18

Grace woke in a haze of happiness. It had been a perfect night. She could feel the sun’s rays warming her as she remembered everything that had happened the night before.

Philip had revealed that full part of his most seductive side. She had no idea he could be so… scandalous in his touches though she had loved every part of it. Even after they had made love, he’d stayed inside her for some time, kissing her, even asking if she was sore.

They had risen and cleaned themselves up before he pulled her back down to the bed again. They’d fallen asleep as nighttime came, tangled in one another’s arms.

Grace had a vague memory of him nuzzling her in the night. He had lightly kissed and nipped her neck, finding her lips too, trailing his fingers through her hair and down her spine to the arch of her back.

She reached out across the bed, lifting the bed sheet in search of him, yet all she found was the sheet. There was nobody beside her.

Abruptly completely awake, Grace’s eyes shot open. She sat up in the bed, clutching the sheet to her breasts to keep herself covered as she looked around the room.

The pillow beside her had a divot, showing where Philip had indeed spent the night with his head beside her own. Yet there was no other sign of him in the room. If he’d collected his clothes before leaving, then he’d even done that neatly and soundlessly. The cupboards and bureaus were all closed with no sign of having been rifled through.

“Did I imagine it?” Grace whispered aloud to the empty air, wondering if that sleepy memory of being nuzzled was a work of her imagination.

Perhaps she was wrong. Maybe after they had gone to sleep, he had retreated from her, pulling back. She couldn’t even be certain that he had spent the whole night beside her, despite his possessive words last night and declaring that she was his.

Those words could have been all in the heat of the moment, like the kissing marks he left on her skin. Perhaps as desire had left him, he’d understood his mistake.

Grace suddenly scrambled out of the bed. She still clutched the bed sheet to her body and ended up tripping on the very end. She fell to her knees then stood again, keeping that bed sheet as close as she could, hurrying toward a mirror on the far side of Philip’s chamber.

The sight of her reflection made her stumble again.

She looked nothing like the Grace she knew. This Grace had wild hair, mussed not just from sleep but Philip’s hands. Her face was glowing pink, and on her neck, she could see the sign of another one of those marks he had left upon her skin.

“Damn you, Philip,” she muttered, trying her best to remove the mark by wiping her neck though it did nothing. “Mark me then runaway at your first opportunity!”

She hated what he had done though she couldn’t hate him. She just wanted him back again, wanted him back in that bed.

“Your Grace?” a sudden voice called from outside the door.

---